302
Area code
DE
United States geographic area code, in service since 1947-01-01.
Statusin service
Introduced1947-01-01
JurisdictionDE, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneEastern
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 85% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%673 of ~792 assignable NXX values (200–999 excl. N11)100%
Prefix-level assignment does not equal number-level exhaustion; thousands-block pooling extends capacity. First assignment on record 2001-02-09, most recent 2026-08-24.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “DE” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | VERIZON DELAWARE, INC. | 175 | 26% |
| 02 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 74 | 11% |
| 03 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - DE | 60 | 8.9% |
| 04 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 54 | 8% |
| 05 | OMNIPOINT COMMUNICATIONS ENTERPRISES, LP | 52 | 7.7% |
| 06 | ONVOY, LLC - DE | 51 | 7.6% |
| 07 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 36 | 5.3% |
| 08 | TELEPORT COMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC - PA | 34 | 5.1% |
| 09 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - DE | 27 | 4% |
| 10 | CORETEL DELAWARE, INC. - DE | 16 | 2.4% |
Important: these are initial assignees from NANPA CO-code records — the carrier a prefix was originally assigned to. Because of number portability, the current serving carrier of any individual number may differ.
Change history
Recorded events for this NPA- 1947-01-01Area code 302 entered service.
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-08 | PL-556 ↗ | Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) – supersedes PL-544 |
| 2020-08-17 | PL-544 ↗ | Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline |